War News

ALJ: Opinion Iraq’s disappeared: Where is Wissam?

Wissam disappeared without a trace after US soldiers arrested him in Baghdad 13 years ago

August 30 marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. For Salam Al Hashimi, an Iraqi refugee in Finland, this day is another stark reminder that his son Wissam, who was abducted by US soldiers in Baghdad in 2005, has been missing for almost 13 years.

Wissam, 21 at the time, was a contractor with the US forces and worked on the maintenance of Baghdad Airport Road. On October 16, 2005 – the day of the constitutional referendum – he was arrested by three US soldiers in front of the Babylon Hotel, 300 metres from his house, where he was going to meet his supervisor. 

His arrest took place in plain sight and was witnessed by a friend of his father’s. His family has not heard from him since, despite their repeated attempts to find him. 

“After his arrest and up to 2007, I would go to the Green Zone every month to ask the US forces to search for my son’s name in their database. They repeatedly told me that they could not find his name. I also went to all US military bases and detention facilities in the region, their answer was the same every single time: his name is not in the database,” he recalls.

From 2008, Salam tried to reach out to the Iraqi authorities: he wrote to the former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and even met with one of his staff, who promised him answers. However, he never heard from him again. In 2011, he contacted the defence and justice ministries, to no avail. The human rights ministry wrote back to him, but only to say that they had no information……………While some abuses committed by US forces received considerable media coverage – most notably the practice of torture in Abu Ghraib – the plight of families of disappeared at the hands of US soldiers has remained under the radar, and an issue few people are aware of. 

Iraq has the highest number of disappearances of any country worldwide, with estimates ranging from 250,000 to one million missing persons. The practice emerged during the Baathist era, continued during and after the US occupation and recently peaked in the context of the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group. 

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NYT: After Deadly Raid, Pentagon Weighs Withdrawing Almost All Commandos From Niger

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is considering withdrawing nearly all American commandos from Niger in the wake of a deadly October ambush that killed four United States soldiers.

Three Defense Department officials said the plans, if approved by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, would also close military outposts in Tunisia, Cameroon, Libya and Kenya, as well as seven of the eight American elite counterterrorism units operating in Africa.

The shift in forces is part of the Pentagon’s defense strategy to focus on threats from China and Russia. But they represent a more severe cut of Special Operations forces in Africa than initially expected, leaving a lasting, robust military presence primarily in Somalia and Nigeria.

The proposal does not say that any additional troops would return to Africa even as Special Operations units gradually draw down. Officials said that could reverse progress that has been made against Al Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates, while diminishing alliances across Africa as both Russia and China move to increase their influence…………

American troops on the ground in Africa have already found their missions scaled back by stringent restrictions placed on Special Operations forces following the Oct. 4 ambush in Niger. Extremists linked to the Islamic State attacked the Green Beret team following its search for a militant near the Mali border, leading to an hourslong gunfight that killed four American soldiers, their translator and four Nigerien troops. A Pentagon investigation found failures at every level of the mission.

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REU: Protests over Yemen’s weakening currency paralyze Aden

ADEN (Reuters) – Hundreds of demonstrators protesting against Yemen’s deteriorating economic situation and weakening currency blocked major roads and burned tires in the southern city of Aden on Sunday, with shops and government offices closing.

By evening, the country’s internationally recognized government ordered a temporary halt on imports of luxury goods like automobiles and a 30 percent salary increase for public-sector employees, including pensioners and contractors.

The Yemeni rial has lost more than half its value against the U.S. dollar since the start of a civil war in 2015 between the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, based in the south and backed by Saudi Arabia, and the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls the north including the capital, Sanaa.

Soaring prices have put some basic commodities out of reach for many Yemenis and the central bank has struggled to pay public-sector salaries on which many depend as foreign exchange reserves dwindle.

Yemen is one of the poorest Arab countries and the war has pushed it toward humanitarian collapse as hunger and disease spread. The United Nations has convened talks in Geneva on Thursday, the first effort to negotiate the conflict in more than two years.

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NYT: Israel Signals It Could Target Iranian Military Assets in Iraq

JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister signaled on Monday it could attack suspected Iranian military assets in Iraq, as it has done by carrying out scores of air strikes in civil war-torn Syria.

“We are certainly monitoring everything that is happening in Syria, and regarding Iranian threats we are not limiting ourselves just to Syrian territory. This also needs to be clear,” Avigdor Lieberman told a conference in Jerusalem.

Asked if this included Iraq, where sources told Reuters that Iran has given ballistic missiles to Shi’ite proxies, Lieberman responded: “I am saying that we will contend with any Iranian threat, and it doesn’t matter from where it comes … Israel’s freedom is total. We retain this freedom of action.”

REU: Iraqi rival groups both announce parliamentary blocs to form new government

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Rival Iraqi political factions said on Sunday they had each formed alliances capable of forming a government in the new parliament after months of political uncertainty following a May election.

Lawmakers led by cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said they created an alliance that would give them a majority bloc in parliament.

A rival grouping led by militia commander Hadi al-Ameri and former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki responded by saying it had formed its own alliance that would be the largest bloc in parliament after it got some lawmakers to defect from the other group.

Ameri and Maliki are Iran’s two most prominent allies in Iraq. Abadi is seen as the preferred candidate of the United States, while Sadr portrays himself as a nationalist who rejects both American and Iranian influence.

Iraq’s parliament contains 329 seats and is set to convene on Monday, when it will elect a speaker and launch the government formation process.

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